Since they returned back to QianYan’lu, Shen QuanLi had documented the YangSu village ordeal and sent it to the sect master. The cultivator didn’t stay for too long before going off on a solo trip to the Frozen Harbor in MingSi. His trusty horsetail whisk had been snapped, and Shen QuanLi set out to repair it.

It might’ve only been for a week, but Shuangyue Elder’s absence made Lai XingXue disquieted. He had been glued to the other’s hip since his arrival, and the prince was now suddenly thrown out to sea without his life preserver. He barely interacted with his fellow disciples outside of sparring and, if asked, wouldn’t be able to put a single name to a face. Lai XingXue was aware that he shouldn’t necessarily treat his sect members with mistrust, but the second prince had a very black and white view of the world.

The prince watched the birds sitting on his window sill and recounted that four days ago, Shen QuanLi told him to refill the pail, cherishing the moment a little bit too fondly. A green white-eye bird stepped onto his desk curiously.

Nudging his fingertip into the fluff of the green bird, Lai XingXue reminisced, “You’re kinda fat, but you remind me of Shizun.” The white-eye chirped in offended disagreement before waddling away.

Lai XingXue sighed and re-opened the scroll his teacher had written. He looked at the new stack of books that were placed on his desk. His master’s schedule for him consisted of only ten points, all trivial and errand-like in nature. Half of the points were related to his studies, and the other half was a shopping list, which explained the velvet red money pouch that his master left behind.

The first half was easy though, simply consisting of reading cultivation material and practicing. Academic activities were easy to deal with for Lai XingXue, and he had finished them early on in the week. Surprisingly, the shopping list was the more difficult task, since, although fifteen this year, Lai Bing had never ran an outdoor errand before.

The main concern was the method of transportation. His spiritual sword had yet to be forged, and without it, he couldn’t sword surf by himself. The closest town from the sect was thankfully a reasonable distance on foot. The town itself wasn’t as small as YangSu Village and was considerably grand despite being near the border of Laixu. Rows and rows of busy pedestrians and townspeople lined the scenery. All of them were paying mind to their own business, and as he entered a shopping district he noticed many were bargaining.

Shen QuanLi wrote that he had wanted some dried sour plums so, of course, Lai XingXue started with them first, walking up to a stall that sold them. He idled, inexperienced with interacting with others.

“Um.”

The merchant approached him, her hands grasped together, “Would this young master want some sweets?”

“No. Just some dried plums.” Lai XingXue corrected.

The salesperson felt the teen’s taste was quite odd but didn’t mention it, continuing instead, “How many?”

“A bagful would be fine.”

“Okay, okay, that’ll be 2 coins.” The merchant replied, leisurely packaging the dried fruit in a wooden container.

The young prince opened the money pouch to fish out two. He laid the two pieces out in his open palm and the merchant started shaking.

“Gongzi¹! I wouldn’t even have enough at my stall today to compensate for 2 coins of gold. You needn’t be this generous!”

“But you said 2 coins?”

The woman was in awe, best described as disbelief, “Of copper! If I wasn’t a righteous person, you’ll be easily scammed by anyone else.”

Lai XingXue felt rather embarrassed as he slinked his hand away and put the coins back, rummaging for copper ones instead. There were sheens of gold and silver, but no brown. QianYan’lu was a ridiculously wealthy sect, and the allowance that his master gave was a bit exorbitant. “I don’t have copper, do you accept silver?”

The salesperson sighed, “Gongzi, how many plums do you need?”

“...Just a bagful.”

“How much do you think dried plums are worth?”

“Not a lot?” Lai XingXue couldn’t help but feel frustrated by suddenly being lectured. “Then I’ll also take those?” He pointed towards the bright yellow fruit in the cabinet next to the dried ones.

“These lemons?” The shop tender picked up one, “We got it imported from ShuHuang, but they’re not really for eating, gongzi. They’re garnish.”

“That’s fine, I’ll take enough for a silver coin.” The second prince didn’t know running errands was so difficult.

“Garnish, gongzi!”

A voice suddenly interjected, “If it’s fine I’ll cover it.” A handful of copper coins were placed in the merchant’s hand. “It’s only a couple of coins right?”

The teen tilted his head to his side and spotted a youth, likely an age older than him, in ChunQing Yang Sect’s blue and teal robes. Lai XingXue’s expression was indescribable, but he attempted to keep composed. Another cultivator came to his aid, in this type of situation… and he couldn’t even reject either. Only able to mutter half-heartedly, “Thank you, qianbei².” Lai XingXue bowed his torso slightly before he took the container and bag of lemons, setting it inside of a fabric bag. Then he walked away.

He wanted to walk away, but the senior instead followed him.

“Hey, QianYan’lu’s disciple.”

“Yes, qianbei?” The young prince didn’t like conversing with others, and couldn’t help but think this disciple of a rival sect had hidden motives when he had approached him.

“Have you never ran an errand before?”

“...” Lai XingXue looked away, “What about qianbei? What brings you to Laixu?”

Taking the bait, the fellow disciple changed the topic, “My lover, she’s an attendant at Guo teahouse.”

“Guo teahouse…” The second prince reexamined the scroll, hoping he had remembered wrong. But in his master’s neat calligraphy was a point to place a custom order at that specific teahouse. Lai XingXue supposed he would be stuck with the other disciple for a while. “Are you going there now?”

“Yes I am,” Before he got pulled in by his own thoughts. “Guo teahouse. It was a romance in spring,” The senior began passionately.

“I- I’m sorry?”

And then the senior went on and on. Lai XingXue would have left if he didn’t know where the teahouse was located in the town. The young prince was very uninterested in romance, so having the contents of a romance novel being spewed nonstop by the ChunQing Yang Sect’s disciple was a headache.

Once they reached the location, the prince thanked the latter and quickly sped to the front counter of the store. His master had wanted a long list of items simply quoted under ‘my usual.’ Said usual, would take quite a long time to assess so Lai XingXue had been told to sit down and wait. This had been the last thing on his to-do list, so he had ample time. The youth would have been happy to wait, but the senior from before slid into the seat across from him.

Lai XingXue raised his head and became more puzzled. It would have made sense if it was the senior from before, but instead, it was a black-robed youth. The prince scratched his head, “How can I help you?”

“You’re from QianYan’lu.”

It was as if his cultivation sect became popular all of a sudden. Lai XingXue touched the blue threaded embroidery of his uniform. There was no hiding it. “I am.” Golden eyes glossed over the robes this new disciple was wearing in more detail: designs of smoke trailed up the stranger’s robe and, most noticeably, the red and gold etchings that permeated the fabric as patterns. A red glass amulet engraved with a sect’s name was openly strapped to the stranger’s waist. Reading it out loud, Lai XingXue mumbled, “Yanwu Sect.”

Meeting up with one disciple of a different cultivation sect could be considered coincidence, but being targeted by two suggested a shared motive.

“Hey- I couldn’t find-“ The senior he met previously sauntered up to the table smiling, “Oh there’s someone new.”

Lai XingXue couldn’t pinpoint the reason why yet, but he had a foreboding feeling about this situation.